Mickelson Wins Masters, Tiger is Back, and Watch Manassero

Phil Mickelson won his third PGA Masters tournament yesterday with what may have been the most inspired golf anyone on the tour has played in some time. It was not quite the charge Jack Nicklaus had in 1986, but it was clearly a case of one of the finest in the world being in the zone when it mattered most. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods finished tied for fourth, which isnt bad for a man who hadn't hit a shot in competition in half a year.

The first couple of rounds were exciting largely because of the presence of Mr. Woods on the course after months of dealing with personal matters that, despite being no one's business outside of his family and the women involved, have been all over the front pages as well as the sports pages. Some pundits said he would not even make the cut. The aforementioned Mr. Nicklaus had a different view, saying essentially that Tiger Woods would not be at his peak, not having played competitively since November, but that Mr. Woods is still exceptional even when not at his peak.

In third round, there was half an hour of the most astonishing scoring one can remember on the tour. CBS showed it in condensed form shortly after it occurred. Mr. Mickelson scored back-to-back eagles and missed a third consecutive eagle by inches. Meanwhile, Lee Westwood was leading and busy nailing a two-putt birdie on 15, Mr. Woods and Ian Poulter both picked up a stroke against par as well.

The fourth round, though, belonged to Mr. Mickelson. Building on his 5-stroke swing on Saturday, his Sunday performance caught fire on the 12th hole. This was the hole that wrecked his championship drive the year before. This time, he birdied. On 13, he made the shot of the tournament (if not the year), from 207 yards through a four-foot gap between two pine trees with his ball on dead pine needles. He left himself a 4-foot putt for birdie.

"I had a good lie in the pine needles," he said. "I was going to have to go through that gap if I laid up or went for the green. I was going to have to hit a decent shot. The gap was a little bit wider - it wasn't huge, but it was big enough for a ball to fit through. I just felt like at that time, I needed to trust my swing and hit a shot, and it came off perfect." That shot had him 2 strokes up on the competition, and he made it to the par-5 15th green in two and two putted for another stroke. From there, he couldn't be caught.

While the Tiger Woods rehabilitation effort continues and Mr. Mickelson enjoys the victory (which he dedicated to his wife, who is fighting breast cancer), mention needs to be made of the low scoring amateur at Augusta National this year. Matteo Manassero is like a lot of 16-year-old Italian boys, a fan of AC Milan in soccer, a rather handsome kid. He also scored better than former Masters winners Zach Johnson and Mike Weir as well as Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia. He was the only amateur to make the cut and finished 4 over. "Today I think I played really good," said Mr. Manassero, the first amateur since 2005 to play in the final two rounds at Augusta. "I can't play much better than this. I maybe left on the course some birdie chances. I made two bogeys, but I finished with a good birdie -- that's a good memory." It will be worth keeping an eye on him.

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